The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #197 Passion-Driven Teams Dan Bobinski
Posted on 28. Jun, 2009 by Wayne in General
Today the Cranky Middle Manager, Wayne Turmel, welcomes colleague Dan Bobinski back to the show. We’ll talk about passion driven teams, motivation and the war of 1812. Just another day here on the show….
Dan Bobinski makes another visit to the show. Read his column on Management Issues if you haven’t yet.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we dedicate the show to Andrew Jackson, Old Hickory, 7th president of the Unites States. Small motivated teams can accomplish great things against odds. It helps if the enemy is arrogant, dressed in red and standing in a straight line.
3:04 the quote of the week is from one of my heroes, Michel de Montaigne. The more certain someone is of something, the odds are he’s a blithering idiot. I paraphrase of course……
4:00 Welcome Dan Bobinski back to the show. How do you create “passion driven teams”. This is a team that is motivated by the work at hand, everyone wants to accomplish the same task. Are they working out of momentum or because the manager pushes. One of these works better. Oh, and Dan has dogs :-)
10:00 Why do good people become micro-managers? When you’re a subject expert but unsure how to manage people, you try to control everything.
15:00 What is motivation and how the heck do you get it without manipulation? Is it really motivation, or is it just removing the things that get in the way of successfully doing the task? Dan takes us through an example with sales people.
20:00 I get to give you my definition of the difference between “innovation” and “change”. Getting people’s buy-in to a change is one of the hardest things you can do. To move people to change you need three things:
- focus
- expectation of the “aha”
- attention density
Oh, and dishes of candy do wonders. Really.
26:00 Over the years are the complaints about management changing? Dan has noticed, and Management Issues agrees, that people are concentrating more on human than organizational issues. Is this a permanent change?
Dan can be reached on Twitter by the way @danbobinski. While you’re at it, you can find me there at @greatwebmeeting
Google Reader is a great tool for finding blogs
You can find him on Facebook as well
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #196 Collaboration with Morten Hansen
Posted on 19. Jun, 2009 by Wayne in Podcast
Today, Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel talks to Morten Hansen about his book Collaboration- when should we collaborate, how do we collaborate and when should we not bother? Also we look at the Underground Railroad as a model to aspire to and there’s still time to sign up for our webinar course.
Morten Hansen looking like the happiest Norwegian ever.
Don’t forget our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it’s critical we create human relationships even when we’re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that lofty goal.
For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register.
For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we’re talking about collaboration and overcoming silos- and when we shouldn’t bother. Something you haven’t heard before I’m sure. We dedicate this show to one of history’s great collaborations, The Underground Railroad. Stop whining about slow bandwidth and just get on with it….
2:55 The quote of the week is from Oliver Wendell Holmes- ideas often work best when transplanted from brain to brain… I just hope you have more luck with that tranplant than I had with The Duchess’ geraniums.
3:45 Welcome Dr Morten Hansen. What the heck is collaboration anyway? It’s to work across boundaries to achieve goals and results. That means sometimes it’s the right thing to do and sometimes you shouldn’t do it. Research shows sometimes you’re worse off playing nicely.
6:11 Does collaboration always get better results? Nope. There are three rules for deciding when to collaborate:
- Be very picky
- Identify the barriers to collaboration
- Put in place a stated, explicit, compelling common goal
9:19 How do you quantify the opportunity to collaborate and how do you have the conversation without sounding like you’re not a team player? This is an important discussion if you want to keep your life your own.
13:30 There are two barriers to collaboration- willingness and ability. Mostly we have the ability which means people are inventing reasons not to collaborate.
18:35 We don’t spend nearly enough time on setting long-term goals and making them explicit. Who does what and why would they bother? Set a goal, whether it’s landing a man on the moon or just getting that %@%%ing code finished.
20:00 One of the really great concepts in the book is “T-Shaped” management…that a manager needs to be both expert in their niche as well as able to span departments and functions well. Me, I’m a butterfly..
…. but if that’s how you’re measured, that’s what’s going to happen. How about asking the other teams what they’re working on so you know what’s working against your project?
Morten’s Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #195 Rock and Roll Team Building with Jeff Carlisi
Posted on 12. Jun, 2009 by Wayne in General, Podcast
This week, Wayne Turmel indulges his rock and roll geek side with Jeff Carlisi, founding member of the band 38 Special and author of a new book on teamwork, Jam- Amp Your Team and Rock your Business. Would you rather have another MBA author from Harvard press? Didn’t think so. Oh and Renaissance knowledge capture and how ridding yourself of vermin can teach you a lesson in time management. Really.
<—–Jeff Carlisi today Jeff Carlisi 30 years ago when I was digging the band (Southern Rock ruled, even in Canada!). There’s hope for everyone to move from show biz to business……. I hope
. Anyway……>
Don’t forget our “How to Create and Manage Remote Teams” webinar workshops on June 26th. Learn why it’s critical we create human relationships even when we’re not close by, and free and low-cost tools to accomplish that.
For Europe and North America, click here to learn more and register.
For India/Asia/Australia, click here to learn more and register.
Show Notes
0:00 Hello everyone and welcome to the show. Today we’re talking Rock and Roll and team building. Hey, at least it’s not another lecture on leadership. We dedicate the show to Johannes Tinctoris knowledge capture with a goose feather….and you can’t make your people use SharePoint. Who’s the real leader here, huh?
3:20 Our quote of the week is from Thomas Fuller, and if you’re looking for a way to stop people in their tracks when they demand faster project updates, this one will do it. it’s so good i can’t believe it didn’t get into the Cranky Middle Manager Book, 125 Quotes for Whacking Weasels…which you can buy HERE.
4:05 Welcome Jeff Carlisi, rock guitarist and the founder of a couple of business Rock Star CEO and Camp Jam. LIke me, he made the move from show business to business-business. Unlike me, he’s been hugely successful at both. He gives us a quick recap of his career….and why working with other musicians is such a great model for team building.
10:47 How did the band, 38 Special, get together and what can we learn? It helps that everyone had known each other for years. What about when the team is put together and you don’t know anyone? You have to make sure everyone know what they’re doing there. Preach the plan and convince them it’s going to work.
14:55 It’s important that even if you are all brilliant at what you do, you have to pay attention to the business environment you’re working in. You also have to constantly monitor your progress and find a way to differentiate yourself in the market. It’s pretty cool when you can write a song that inspires speakers like Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru (who you can hear on the Cranky Show here)
19:00 The lead singer isn’t always the leader…. roles are crucial. you can’t force people to like roles they don’t like…put the right people in the role. There’s a good story about finding a songwriter outside the band, that changed things for good. Who could you be learning from?
28:52 Jeff has one of the coolest gigs in the world. He’s in the house band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Working with high powered “superstar” teams isn’t easy but it is rewarding.
31:50 Jeff’s biggest struggle in business is communication. The idea of human contact seems to have taken a beating…. join the team, Jeff. He’s blown away by Zappos.com and its CEO Tony Hsieh as a great company to work for.
Jeff’s Resources
His own book , Jam
Ted Turner’s book, Call Me Ted
Hey, don’t forget My Book since you’re buying.
Latest Carnival of HR
Posted on 12. Jun, 2009 by Wayne in General
The latest carnival of HR is up….. another terrific bunch of articles related to that most underappreciated of functions… HR. This month it’s hosted by friend of the show Rowan Manahan (you can hear his Cranky show here….). Check it out